Relationships
| “ | Suffering strengthens the bond! | „ |
| ~ The Academic |
Relationships or Affinity System is a new mechanic introduced in Darkest Dungeon 2. Throughout the road, the combat and The Inn the heroes will be able to form relationships with each other which will either increase their combat effectiveness or greatly reduce it. Keeping the relationships between the team positive is essential for the victory of the expedition.
Affinity
During combat, the road and The Inn. Heroes can increase or decrease Affinity. The Affinity is between levels 0-20. The higher the affinity the more likely the heroes will get a Positive Relationship in the Inn. On the contrary, if the affinity is low, the heroes will have a high chance of developing a Negative Relationship.
Heroes will start each game with 9 affinity and he first Inn will have a -10% chance of Positive/Negative Relationship. Making it impossible to form any kind of Relationship unless the player gets items that increase the affinity, Quirks that increase chances of Relationships and a lot of luck.
| Affinity Levels | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
  
| ||||||
| (0) Zero Affinity |
(1-4) Very Unfriendly |
(5-8) Unfriendly |
(9-13) Neutral |
(14-16) Friendly |
(17-19) Very Friendly |
(20) Max Affinity |
| Negative Relationship (90%) | Negative Relationship (65%) | Negative Relationship (33%) | Negative Relationship (5%) Positive Relationship (5%) |
Positive Relationship (33%) | Positive Relationship (65%) | Positive Relationship (90%) |
Increasing Affinity
Affinity will be increased throughout the expedition in different ways. Heroes can increase Affinity with Inn Items, randomly on the road, in combat and by making decisions at the nodes. The player must strategize around this options as keeping affinity high and consequently having Positive Relationships will greatly increase the chances of a succesful expedition.
Combat:
During combat, both supporting your allies and attacking next to them will increase affinity. There is no way of knowing when this will occur and it is completely random, having low stress further increases the chances Positive affinity gain.
Buffing your allies with skills or combat items.
Healing your allies with low HP or Death's Door.
Reduce stress to your allies.
Guard your allies during Death's door or with low HP.
Move or use movement skills (only when low stress)
- Attacking the same enemy. For this to be activated, the two actions must be consecutive.
- Attack an enemy with a debuff or
Combo set by an ally. (Must be consecutive). - Attacking an enemy that has attacked an ally. (Must be consecutive).
Inn Items:
Some Inn Items can increase the affinity between heroes, however most have a chance of lowering it. The player must strategize around these items and always keep in mind the risk of losing affinity.
| Click to Show all Inn Items. | |
|---|---|
| Inn items | Effects |
 Boxing Gloves |
• Round Start:  (5%) (Until Next Inn)• (75%)(25%) |
 Candles and Chocolate |
•  -1• Gains up to |
 Dartboard |
• -1• +2% CRIT (Until Next Inn) • (75%)(25%)
|
 Playing cards |
• (75%)(25%) |
 Pipeweed |
* -2*
|
 Roast Pig |
* -2* (All hero pairs)* A joyous feast for all! *Can be used in addition to normal food. |
 Songbook of Amorous Ballads |
* (75%)(25%)
|
 Songbook of Touching Dirges |
* 1* (75%)(25%)
|
 The Wine |
* -3*
|
 Whiskey Barrel |
* -2* (75%)(25%)
|
 Whiskey Bottle |
[2 Targets] * -2* (67%)(33%)
|
Nodes
When two or more heroes share the same or similar decision, they will gain +1 Affinity
Losing Affinity
As well as gaining affinity, Affinity can be lost randomly during the road, in combat or by making decisions at nodes. The player should try to reduce the chances of losing Affinity and prevent heroes from developing negative relationships as this will make combat more dangerous, disrupt the player's strategy and make heroes less effective overall.
Combat:
During combat there is a chance that the heroes will react negatively to other heroe's actions. The player will be able to know when this happens with a blue indicator showing which hero will lose affinity. High stress will increase the chances of this Negative Affinity loses.
- Heal another ally when the hero is low HP or in Deaths door.
- Reducing the stress of an ally when the hero is under high stress.
- Guard an ally when the hero is low HP or Death's Door.
- Move or use movement skills (only when high stress)
Nodes
When two or more heroes do not share the same decision, they will lose -1 to -2 Affinity.
Embark Screen
Once the player has chosen they next destination the Rest button will appear. There The Player will see what is known as The Embark Screen, this is where the heroes will develop relationships depending on their affinity, clicking on each of the relationships will reveal them showing the name of The Relationship, the pair of the heroes that have them and the corresponding Blessed/Cursed skill. Once all Relationships are revealed the heroes can continue the Expedition.
Along with all the Buffs/Debuffs from Relationships the Blessed and Cursed skills will change the skills of the heroes Giving them a new random unique effect for the corresponding Relationship.
Blessed Skills of one hero will give a random buff to the partner. The Skill is chosen at random and the player can choose to equip the skill or not.
Cursed skills of one hero will give a negative debuff to the partner. Cursed skills have a triple priority over 
Mastered Skills and are automatically equiped on the hero, the player cannot remove them, and they act as a penalty for letting the heroes have Negative Relationships.
Each one of the Relationships has different buffs and debuffs. They will be listed below.
Positive Relationships
As the name suggests, Positive Relationships will help and increase the combat effectiveness of our heroes. The player must try to keep the relationships of all his heroes positive.
Each relationship will give different buffs to the Blessed Skills and will have act-outs unique to that relationship.
Respectful
| “ | Tried and tested. A bond to be counted on! | „ |
| BLESSED SKILL BUFFS | ACT OUT | |
|---|---|---|
Partner:
|
Partner:
|
Chance for the partner to follow up on any of your attacks. Doing additional damage and an effect depending on the hero. |
| Chance for the partner to responds to any attack from enemies that hits you, dealing damage. | ||
| Random Stress healing barks during combat. | ||
Hopeful
| “ | Aspiration unites the hopeful! | „ |
| BLESSED SKILL BUFFS | ACT OUT | |
|---|---|---|
| Partner:
-1 |
Chance for the partner will give massive buffs to all stats. | |
Chance for the partner to -5 and remove  (horror).
| ||
| Random Stress healing barks during combat. | ||
Amorous
| “ | While the heart still beats, desire will never die. | „ |
| BLESSED SKILL BUFFS | ACT OUT | |
|---|---|---|
| Partner: Heal 10% 
|
Partner: Remove   
|
Chance for the partner to recieve a hit for you. (Compares HP between the two heroes) |
| Chance for partner to heal you 50% Max and remove
| ||
| Random Stress healing barks during combat. | ||
Negative Relationships
On the other hand Negative Relationships will disrupt and reduce the combat effectiveness of our heroes while also blocking and forcing the heroe to use a skill The player may not want to use. Increasing the affinity will reduce the chances of getting Negative Relationships
Each relationship will give different debuffs to the Cursed skills and will have act-outs unique to that relationship.
Suspicious
| “ | Narrowed eyes, muttered threats. All trust is lost. | „ |
| CURSED SKILLS DEBUFF | ACT OUT |
|---|---|
Partner: , 
|
Random Stress dealing barks during combat. |
Envious
| “ | Each covets what the other has and plots to take it. | „ |
| CURSED SKILLS DEBUFF | ACT OUT |
|---|---|
| Partner: 1
|
Random Stress dealing barks during combat. |
Hateful
| “ | Cruelty and callousness have claimed dominion here. | „ |
| CURSED SKILLS DEBUFF | ACT OUT |
|---|---|
| Partner:
|
Chance for the partner to hit the hero during one attack. Dealing damage to the hero. |
| Random Stress dealing barks during combat. |
Resentful
| “ | Resentment, the slowest and deadliest poison of them all. | „ |
| CURSED SKILLS DEBUFF | ACT OUT | |
|---|---|---|
Partner:
|
Partner:
|
Random Stress dealing barks during combat. |
Trivia
- Before the relationships overhaul "The Void Between us" The two relationships Tumultuous and Inseparable were playable and functional, however they have been removed from the game and it is not known if they will be reintroduced.